Kyuden Shika

Hikimasu entered the garden that afternoon taking in the flowers as best he could. Sure, it smelled worse than he wanted, or too strongly...no...too fancy. A proper Shosuro garden at least had a sense of purpose other than beauty and fragrance.

Still, it was nice, but he had little use for it other than the social meaning of being in the garden with people. He went along a path and found himself somewhere to settle away from most, not the pond he and the others had used the previous day, around the corner near a cherry tree. He got out his book again, the protagonist was starting to realize he wasn't competing with the ice queen for the darling character,they were competing for him.

On a quest for gossip like they were a proper Otomo, Unsei wandered into the garden in search of an increasingly familiar face. Well, face and mask. Not that becoming familiar with the looks of the Shosuro was a bad thing, not by far.

They were also becoming increasingly familiar with the outdoors, something they thought they'd never do. Sure, it smelled nice and was pretty, but it was also hotter and made one more prone to twisting an ankle. It was then that they finally stumbled across him and... it brought a small smile to their face.

"Heya, Shosuro-san!"

He looked up from his book at the call of his family name, he recognized the voice before seeing the face. Was it...? Definitely between the two, somewhere, maybe the breathiness at times making the high pitch of Unsei's voice confusing. The Seppun didn't seem full matured somehow, like their elements were still forming.

Internal shrug. They were an imperial and seemed keen to talk to him, that was the only thing that mattered at that point.

Hikimasu stood up, folding his book shut and he bowed. "Hello, Seppun-sama. It is a nice day isn't it? I trust you've had rice."

Whatever the thoughts, Unsei certainly couldn't read them so they only kept their smile up, not realizing anything was wrong. Under their hat, their little cowlick was certainly projecting up to the sky, telling all that they weren't the brightest knife in the box.

They quickly returned the bow. "I have! And it is! Ah, but I see you're reading, so I don't want to keep you long. Just wanted to know about whoever that Lion was that you were talking about the other day. Not really for any reason other than I'm curious at this point. And then I'll leave you too it!"

He arched an eyebrow. That was it and then they'll leave me alone? He felt suspicious for many reasons.

"I spoke with Kitsu Murato-san, he was the one I discussed it with", Hikimasu said. "Whatever circumstances lead him to those thoughts, whether some bizarre upbringing or simply being contrary to me, I don't know."

When one was cursed by Benten-no-kami, one learned quickly that if they enjoyed being around someone, they should probably stop being around that person soon. So, since they enjoyed being around Hikimasu, it was best to leave him alone, even if they didn't want to. It didn't help that Unsei felt the Shosuro had only gone on with the conversation for so long because he felt he had to because Unsei was a Seppun.

"Oh, that's odd. Very odd. A Kitsu?" They furrowed their brows. "Huh. Wonder why that is. But! As I said, I'll leave you to your book. Don't want to interrupt more than I already have the past day."

He seemed even more suspicious. Were they going to take this information and go cause trouble with it immediately?

"Ano...Seppun-sama...", he began, not quite sure what he was going to say. "If you're busy, please hurry along but I have some time to get through this book."

He admitted it felt wrong for the imperial to come and go, but they were a bit...capricious, he supposed.

She'd visited the gardens solely for the sake of it, at first, but at the sound of voices Aimi makes her way along the winding pathways towards their source with a smile. It is an expression that becomes slightly more fixed when she arrives and finds who it is that she was overhearing.

"Ah," she says, pausing uncertainly to look between the Scorpion and the Imperial. For a moment she thought she might turn and walk away... but no she'd clearly seen them now, and that would just be far too rude. "I apologise, am I interrupting?"

They paused, not sure what to do now. They hadn't expected this and it took them a but by surprise.

"Oh, ah, no. No, I don't have anything else to do today." They awkwardly rubbed the back of their head. "Just didn't want to bother you anymore, especially after the day before when I annoyed you with the compliments, but I did really just want to know who it was. Like a secret hanging just over your head and you've just got to know?"

Then they looked over to the ronin and blinked. "Uh, no? I don't think so?" They sounded a bit confused.

Hikimasu wasn't an idiot...well he was, but not like THAT.

He nodded to Unsei. "Seppun-sama, do as you wish, you're welcome here regardless." he bowed slightly to the ronin, who he saw as a real complication considering how he and Unsei had been discussing things. "Join us if you'd like", he said, not caring much either way, at least by appearances.

Dead fish eyes can be tricky.